The West African Examinations Council has declared that no examination question papers were leaked during the 2026 West African Senior School Certificate Examination, crediting enhanced cyber monitoring and technological innovations for preserving the integrity of the exercise.

Amos Dangut, Head of the Nigeria National Office of WAEC, made the declaration on Thursday during a visit by the national leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students to the council's headquarters in Yaba, Lagos. The delegation was led by Secretary General Oladimeji Uthman.

"This year, I want to make it clear and loud that the rate of examination malpractice has diminished greatly. The extent and nature of our examination papers flying up and down on the internet were greatly diminished," Dangut told the gathering.

"As far as our cyber monitoring team was there and the comments and testimonies we received from stakeholders outside WAEC, there was no leakage in this examination," he added.

Dangut noted that WAEC now operates a real time cyber monitoring centre capable of identifying and addressing malpractice as it occurs. He maintained that despite security, logistical, and operational challenges recorded during the examination, the integrity of the exercise was not compromised.

The WAEC chief traced delays that pushed Mathematics and Agricultural Science papers into evening hours across several states to a fatal road accident on the Gombe Yola highway, which claimed the lives of three council officials.

On wider logistical difficulties, Dangut attributed the root cause to late candidate registration following curriculum adjustments and the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Education.

"Registration was concluded in April. From April to when examinations started in May, how can we do magic? The printing was affected due to timeliness, not because WAEC was not prepared," he stated.

To prevent a recurrence, he announced that registration for the 2027 examination would open in September and close in December 2026. Dangut also confirmed that 2026 WASSCE results would be released on 3 August, urging stakeholders with outstanding fees to settle within 10 days to avoid delays in processing affected candidates' results.

He reaffirmed the council's commitment to expanding Computer Based WASSCE, describing it as the permanent solution to paper leakage since it removes the need to transport physical question papers to examination centres.